Agnes, Archibald & Alice

Agnes, Archibald, and Alice are three elderly burros, who were rounded up from the same herd on the Nevada range in December of 2021. They were brought to our attention at the BLM Burns corrals. When we went to look, there were more than a dozen burros together and we didn’t know which three seniors would be ours. One large john with bushy eyebrows made steady eye contact with us. His penetrating gaze stayed in our minds. When we returned to pick them up, we were so happy to see that he was one of the three. This was Archibald. He came with two jennies, Agnes and Alice.

Donkeys are thoughtful, cautious, and intelligent. Archie stopped in is tracks in the loading chute to assess the situation before getting into the trailer until BLM staff pushed him in to speed things along. Agnes and Alice followed right behind, moving in an endearing, hurried shuffle to make sure they stayed together.

At Skydog, we opened the trailer door and let them make up their minds about taking that leap of faith into their new home. It was only matter of seconds before Archibald made the decision to lead his ladies out the door and up the hill to the trees of their roomy enclosure. They understood that this place was different from the holding facilities they’d survived.

The tip of Archibald’s right ear is missing and his coat has interesting markings in black and grey. He is the bravest of Triple AAAs and came closer to humans than the others at feeding time.

Agnes and Alice look very much alike and don’t draw near, so it can be hard to tell them apart. At their ages, they must have raised several generations on the range, but lost them along with their freedom. We know this is devastating for burro mothers, who bond even more deeply with their foals than horses. In the wild, the jennies usually stay with their offspring rather than follow their jacks their whole lives. It hurts to think what a terrible trauma this was for them - and explains why they really don’t want anything to do with humans, which we completely understand. We showed them our respect by keeping our distance and asked nothing of them.

They stayed together in a roomy, wooded pen until we were sure the two jennies were not pregnant. Then we set them free. We drove them to the entrance, opened the trailer doors, and off they went without looking back. Whenever we see them now, they are with a large wild herd of burros on beautiful, western, rugged, open terrain. Nothing could be more healing and it gives us peace to know they are happy.

2022 was a hideous year for wild burros with violent roundups that continue today. We decided to shine a spotlight on how beautiful, sensitive, smart, but undervalued animals are by creating an account for burros on Instagram. Archibald, Alice, and Agnes were the first we rescued that year to launch @skydogdonkeys, followed immediately by their herdmates, the 5 Amigos, to keep the A List growing: Alfie, Albert, Arthur, Atticus, and AJ.

#skydogarchibald  #skydogalice #skydogagnes

American Mustangs and Burros Need Your Help!

In addition to supporting our work by donating, becoming a patron on Patreon, or sponsoring a Skydog, there are several important pieces of legislation to protect American equines currently moving through Congress. It only takes a few minutes to contact your Rep and Senators and urge them to support these bills:

Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2025 (H.R.1661 in the House and S.775 in the Senate). This bill would amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. Commonly known as the “Farm Bill”, this omnibus federal law includes several important provisions for animals. Among them, the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act, which makes it illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. This SAFE Act would extend the prohibition to equines. Specifically, prohibiting a person from knowingly slaughtering an American equine for human consumption; or shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an American equine to be slaughtered for human consumption. This bill will shut down the slaughter pipeline that sends some 20,000 American horses and donkeys to savagely monstrous deaths in foreign slaughterhouses every year.

You can Contact Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121‬, submitting contact forms on their individual websites, or sending one email to all three simultaneously at www.democracy.io

See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at US canned hunt ranches, stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs, and defund the Adoption Incentive Program.

You can also tell your Rep and Senators that you want these bills from the previous Congress introduced again this session:

The Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act of 2023 (H. R. 3656) This bill will prohibit the use of helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft in the management of wild mustangs and burros on public lands, and require a report on humane alternatives to current management practices.

Ejiao Act of 2023 (H.R. 6021). To ​​ban the sale or transportation of ejiao, a gelatin made from boiling donkey skins, or products containing ejiao in interstate or foreign commerce, which brutally kills millions of donkeys primarily for beauty products and Chinese medicine.